China’s Police Will Carry Guns Unlike Any Others

A Chinese policeman checks his pistol before going on patrol in Shanghai, on April 20, 2014.

Associated Press

When Chinese authorities announced that more street cops will be armed, their choice of weapon confounded some gun enthusiasts outside the country. But it makes more sense to local moviegoers.

The “05 Chinese Police Revolver” is an unusual weapon, and that’s apparently the point. Government and private experts say Chinese ballistics engineers specifically designed the weapon to minimize risks associated with introducing handguns into a society that has little experience with firearms.

China’s Ministry of Public Security announced last weekend that more regular police around the country, starting in Shanghai, will carry guns while on patrol. Some of China’s police forces already have access to guns for emergency situations, but arming regular beat patrols is a significant policy change for a nation with some of the world’s most restrictive gun laws.

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The ministry defended the new policy, saying it reflects growing concern that officers need the ability to react faster against criminals and terrorists. Initially, Shanghai intends to train up to 4,000 beat-cops and has so far certified a quarter of them.

Named for the year it was developed, the police revolver with a length of 186 millimeters (7.3 inches) and weight of 650 grams (1.4 pounds) is designed to fire 9-millimeter-caliber ammunition, of both the rubber and regular varieties. Sometimes fitted with a wooden grip, the six-shooter is accurate up to 25 meters and is considered simple to operate, reliable and durable, according to statements in recent years from the Ministry of Public Security.

Chinese policemen putting their hands to their pistols during the first day of armed patrol in Shanghai, China April 20, 2014.

European Pressphoto Agency

Though the weapon itself has been described in Chinese police reports and in state-run media for almost a decade, its dimensions are new to some foreign gun enthusiasts.

Several contacted The Wall Street Journal with doubts about the ministry’s description of the weapon specifications: a revolver that fires 9mm-caliber ammunition. Typically, they note, ammunition of that caliber is loaded into a clip for semi-automatic pistols, and isn’t appropriate for traditional revolvers where rounds fit into individual chambers on a spinning mechanism.

The dimensions make more sense to Max Popenker, a 41-year-old in St. Petersburg, Russia, who runs a website that calls itself an encyclopedia of firearms and ammunition. Mr. Popenker says he first published specifications of the Chinese police’s 9mm revolver about two years ago after a connection in China alerted him to it.

China’s weapon-making industry already produces pistol barrels for this caliber, Mr. Popenker explained by email, and it “offers a good compromise between effectiveness and size of the ammunition and gun.”

But beyond practicalities, he added, “They also choose nonstandard (proprietary) ammunition to make ammo supply more complicated for criminals who might obtain revolvers from policemen.” In other words, even if a gun is stolen from a police officer, finding the correct ammunition to reload it could be difficult because technically only the police would have access to it.

And indeed, concern about possible misuse of the guns emerged as a major point of commentary in China after the policy change. Online, many recalled the 2002 hit movie “Missing Gun”, in which a small-town policeman loses his weapon and crime ensues.

While it isn’t clear whether the movie influenced Chinese law-enforcement authorities, statements this week emphasized their efforts to minimize the possibility that police officers could lose their revolvers.

Each police gun is numbered and registered with a station house before and after patrols, authorities said. Police-distributed photos show revolvers that lock into holsters and remain chained to a police utility belt. As added insurance, the armed officers are instructed to walk their beat with a hand rested on the weapon.

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